2008 was a good year for me, professionally and personally. It was a hard year, financially, though I had it easier than most.
For those who missed it (and sometimes I count myself among them), here’s the recap of 2008.
INT. EARL NEWTON’S LUXURIOUS ONE-BEDROOM FLAT
The single light from a MacBook Pro casts noirish shadows along the wall, opposite an expansive view of the diamond-encrusted city.
EARL NEWTON, a large man, handsome, with sharp lines on his face and a high widow’s peak, clicks-and-drags on the Mac. His eyeline is solid, confident. Focused.
EARL NEWTON
(V.O.)
Technology. When my parents grew up, a calculator weighed ten pounds and cost a thousand dollars. Now you get one free with a box of Fruity Pebbles. Now I shuffle digital bits around the world like a Vegas dealer and bemoan the lag as ten times the information in the Library at Alexandria dribbles into my system in the form of a high-definition copy of “Zombie Strippers.”
Newton clicks again.
CUT TO:
THE SCREEN
as it displays “SCRIPPETS PLUG-IN ACTIVATED”. Newton SMILES, sharp shadows carved into a blue-lit face.
EARL NEWTON
(V.O.)
It’s good to be the king.
The WP-Scrippets plugin has now been installed. Now I (and you, in the comments section) can write pieces of script, in proper formatting, directly on the website. Read here for instructions on how to use it.
This plug-in is the result of a collaboration between John August and Nima Yousefi.
UPDATE:
This plug-in works, but isn’t quite perfect yet on the iPhone. I’ll fiddle with it later, when I don’t have scripts due. Like, in August.
This year, I’m taking the big swing at the Nicholls Fellowship, possibly the most heralded screenwriting competition in the world. More than one career has been jump-started just by placing in the semifinals.
Read more about the Nicholls Fellowship here.
So here’s the challenge:
Submissions are accepted for 120 days: January 1st to May 1st.
During that time, I’m going to submit three screenplays. A polished draft of Pure Love, and two other screenplays.
Here’s what I’m already aware of:
So I’m completely using the Nicholls for my own ends: to have three scripts to polish for the summer.
But I have a secret reason for entering: I think I will place. If not the quarterfinals, then the semifinals.
I’ve put the challenge to some of my screenwriting friends, and we’re all going in together on this.
120 days. Three scripts. $90 in submission fees.
I’ve been creating work on the outskirts of the Hollywood world for long enough. If you want to be a world champion, you have to compete against the world.
Will you take the challenge?
Just finished the third draft of “Pure Love”, the feature film I’ve been working on for the last month.
It’s going out to the readers right now, but I’m confident we’re close to the final draft. Here’s what some people have been saying about it so far…
So, needless to say, I’m pretty pleased.
Will keep you up to date on its progress.
UPDATE:
This has to be my favorite comment so far: “It reminded me of a Tarantino flick, Blow, and a Twilight Zone episode having a threesome.”
